A FEW THOUGHTS ON PRIVACY

Neat, handy.....and necessarily intrusive!

So I was turning on the Genius feature for my iTunes to as it were, "expand my musical horizons" and came across this part of the iTUNES STORE - TERMS AND CONDITIONS, which nobody reads but weird specific people like me. Please breeze through.....

PRIVACY

Except as otherwise stated in this Agreement, the Service is subject to Apple's Privacy Policy at http://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/.

When you opt in to the Genius feature, Apple will, from time to time, automatically collect information that can be used to identify media in your iTunes library on this computer, such as your play history and playlists. This includes media purchased through iTunes and media obtained from other sources. This information will be stored anonymously and not associated with your name or iTunes Account. When you use the Genius feature, Apple will use this information and the contents of your iTunes library, as well as other information, to give personalized recommendations to you.

Apple may only use this information and combine it with aggregated information from the iTunes libraries of other users who also opt in to this feature, your iTunes Store purchase history data, aggregated purchase history data from other iTunes Store users, and other information obtained from third parties, to:

• Create personalized playlists for you from your iTunes library.

• Provide you with recommendations regarding media and other products and services that you may wish to purchase.

• Provide recommendations regarding products and services to other users.

At all times your information will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Once you opt in to the Genius feature in iTunes, you will be able to create Genius playlists on Genius-capable devices. To enable the Genius feature on a device, you must sync it with your iTunes library after you have opted in.

If you prefer that we do not collect and use information from your iTunes library in this manner, you should not enable the Genius feature. You can revoke your opt-in choice at any time by turning off the Genius feature from the Store menu in iTunes on your computer. After you opt out, iTunes will no longer send information about your iTunes library to Apple. If you have elected to share your library from multiple computers, you need to turn off the Genius feature from each computer. The Genius feature cannot be enabled or disabled from your device.

By opting in to the Genius feature, you consent to the use of your information as described above and as described in Apple’s Privacy Policy.

When I finished I begun to wonder, can I really trust Apple Inc with a comprehensive insight into my personal music tastes. This information even includes the 'sources' of my music: crap, Limewire & Transmission are some serious friends of mine. Its of necessity, here in Accra, Ghana, where am I going to find a CD shop that sells reasonably priced CDs - Massa lookee hia, blame Sean Parker not me man. XD

George Orwell's 'original' manuscript in development [src; Wikipedia]

All that aside, I wonder how exactly Apple Inc will benefit from this information. I mean its an exchange, they will give me access to more music that is supposedly similar to my current predilections. In return they will expect me to pay for for the songs they recommend online - sounds fair, right? Question is, will they seriously just store this information about myself and not utilize it further? Will they not provide this information to third parties, either at a price, under duress or for other reasons. I don't know and that bothers me; then I think, why should it there is a lot more information about me on WEB 2.0 already. My Facebook account alone is like a treasure trove of personal information. And then my Gmail account, and my LinkedIn profile, Hotmail, Yahoo, Skype chats, Chrome/Safari/Firefox histories, even all my numerous accounts splattering my digital footprints all over cyberspace. Nineteen Eighty-Four came 20 years late, but it came nonetheless. Seriously, Facebook launched in 2004, chew on that!

Concerns must be analysed and then put in the right perspective. Now I grew up on the internet; or shall I say grew up with the internet. As it has evolved and become an even more invasive and addictive experience, I have come to the simple conclusion that I cannot shy away from this technology so I will embrace it fully. I will figure out its intricacies, its fluid framework and its highly dynamic set of rules and become extremely adept at utilizing it to achieve my own ends. It is _2011 (-93.5hrs) and I would much rather be an Inner Party member than Winston Smith; O'Brien had it far better. After all, I manage what information I would like to put in in the public domain and it appears quite self-evident that the better you manage this information, the better off you will be especially considering this is the Information Age. It is certainly impossible to control who has access to your digital information nowadays. It is so easy to access and share everybody's personal data, pictures especially are taken for granted but are much more revealing. Certainly if you see that flashlight blinking you better give your best pose, because someone might just tag you.


The best way to exploit a system is from the inside. So I am wired in hard, trying to stay ahead of the curve. Many people are just passive, some are reactive, but a few are proactive. Seriously, very proactive. Human beings will increasingly lead more and more of their lives on the internet, so as an early adopter in a rapidly changing landscape do not begrudge me my many Facebook posts, my prim and proper LinkedIn profile or my annoyingly snide emails. It is all part of my online persona, who is not that much different from me in person, just disconnected from the immediacy of the physical.

Anyway my Genius feature is turned on and apparently all 6961 audio files in my iTunes Library can be neatly categorized into 12 playlists. You can trust Jobs & Co to make things so easy. I'm diving in, doublethinking all the way because Big Brother is watching you! :)

Cheers

TheBizmic

TRO-TRO DIARIES PART 4(b): ON UNSTRUCTURED SITUATIONS

When I get to 37 Station, I have to take a taxi to work, or simply walk which is generally not feasible. My office is very close to the American Embassy, and that side of Cantonments does not cater to the needs of the tro-tro taking public from that direction. Even though I work at the National Petroleum Authority, I earn a National Service Salary so I have to manage my resources judiciously and this necessitates several changes in my outlook and practice of life in general. I view myself as less and less a privileged kid and more and more a young adult with growing responsibilities. At the NPA I am learning how to keep a rein on my temper, how to tactfully present a suggestion, how to determine if somebody can help you get your job done easier, and how to work with people you may detest. I have learnt that it is sometimes best to shut up and kiss ass than to always say as you will and that there is a hierarchy and one must observe the pecking order. I am part now part of a very big team, a simple cog in a vast machine. There are rules and I am playing the game by its rules – but being that I am me I have put my own twist on my affairs there. My work is very confidential, but essentially what we do is to regulate the downstream oil industry, but we also have a few engagements with the upstream sector as well of necessity. What do I do there exactly; I am officially attached to the Finance Department but in fact I am an intern with slightly expanded responsibilities. I love my job and it is enabling me to get closer and closer to making my oily dreams a reality.

I desire to be an accomplished guru in Ghana’s nascent oil industry, and to this end over the past three years I have done all that is necessary to pursue this goal. Accomplishment can only be attained through sacrifice, but I wonder if I have sacrificed enough yet. I am positive that I grew up way too early; I realized at too young an age that life is what you make of it, that Santa was a myth and money makes the world go round. You use the tools, talents and faults that define you to get anywhere you want to go. Look at Zuckerberg, do you really think he knew he would climb to such heights – Time person of the year? Most definitely not! He was just at the right place at the right time, with the right set of skills. Bono, Buffet, Gates, Jobs, Mandela, Rockefeller; what do they all have in common? There were prepared to maximize the opportunities that came their way; not just because they were destined to do what they did but that they recognized an opportunity, leveraged it and succeeded in making an impact on each of our lives.

I am destined to do as I must, and so are you. Rather than wrack your poor soul with useless worry, identify your strengths and the opportunities that surround you and leverage the hell out of them and at the same time mitigate your weaknesses and the threats that are an inevitable part of the package. I mean, nobody is perfect, least of all me! I am a product of my strengths and weaknesses; a simple equation of nature and nurture. Who cares which has precedence, you are who you are and you might as well be comfortable being yourself. Pleasure is only skin deep anyway so we may choose to just join the masses as mindless drones who end up doing nothing of note. Or we can have a far-reaching impact in this world – I am seriously in the midst of creating my legacy and I hope you are too. I know I am not the only one, but there are too few of us that my heart bleeds, my eyes tear and I wonder if there are enough people that recognize the simple truth of life – that what you invest determines the returns you obtain. Failure does not exist to the mind of the determined, you learn and you improve from your mistakes, and you are tasked to the limit of your ability by this world, so if you cannot accomplish what you desire blame nobody but yourself.

Doubt is just about the most dangerous thought a human can entertain. Doubt kills dreams; doubt destroys the well-laid schemes of mice and men. Doubt is a demon, and must be exorcised. Believe that you can make it, or don’t; that is up to you. As for me and mine, we know where we are going. Seriously, it should not surprise you if I die a premature death or become the president; they are all as likely as each other. I do not know what the future holds, who knows anyway. However you can prepare yourself as best as you can for the unknown. How? In a global village where a man is judged not by the content of his mind, but the size of his wallet how does one hope to make anything of consequence? I do not have any smart or quick answers; I am just trying to figure things out for myself, as is anybody else. But I do not mind sharing the little tidbits of wisdom that come my way as I flit from one place to another, one scene to another trying to make things happen.

Personally, my life is just a series of routines and unstructured situations. Routines are boring, and the unexpected is stressful – but a healthy mix of both makes life worth living. Nowadays, I treasure the little things now more than ever; my little resilient BlackBook that just won’t quit; my rent free room and my AC that doesn’t chill too much anymore; access to internet at work and home; my mother’s awesome cooking; my father’s constant advice; the unbridled love my now very mature and even cooler siblings and I share; my parents giving me transport money when I am broke; the washing machine that keeps my clothes so clean; the many books that I have had access to read; my few friends and many associates; the nearly perfect job for me at this particular point in Ghana’s history; the grey in my hair; my ‘unsmart’ Nokia phone; my youth, strength and health; even my mealy-mouthed approach to expressing myself – these are some of the little things that shape my perceptions of the environment within which I find myself and I appreciate the fact that I finally am able to put things in the right context most of the time.

I have been trying to listen far more than I talk of late as well and for good reason (save when inebriation upends sobriety).  By and large, three things occupy my mental faculties and physical energies – Thinking, Planning and Execution. That is not to say that others do not do the same, but frankly I am simply far more meticulous in my approach than most people I have had the fortune of meeting. But for all this aggrandizing “ahead of the pack” mentality sometimes I fail; matter of fact I have failed at so many things so many times that I am surprised I still have enough confidence to keep trying again. The redeeming trait I have is I cannot accept these failures because the way I see it, they are merely consecutive and unending tests. Dogged, stubborn and uncompromising to a fault I am and will remain. I will never short-change myself, and why should anyone. Seemingly insurmountable challenges are the stuff of legend, because they are just that, seemingly insurmountable. Yet man has gone to the moon, can see billions of light years into the past and posit the beginning of the universe and create technologies that are inconceivably miniscule or colossal. Large Hadron Colliders that bombard atomic particles to discover their sub-atomic component parts vie for attention together with macro-economic trends that shapes the life of billions – where is the world going to? Wherever it is going, a few shall ride the crest of the wave but many shall stand by the beach and watch and more shall flounder. Such is life, oh what an unforgiving mistress she is. In the meantime we are saving towards our Aston Martin – glad to say that we are 0.13867% of the way there at the moment so there is still a long way to go. Until that time, I will join the queue on my way back home, oh I forgot Ghanaians queue like sane humans to board the tro-tro at the station, but at the bus stop, well you already know.......hia hia hiaaaaaaa

I'm just saying, if you will aim, then AIM HIGH....hehehe :)

TRO-TRO DIARIES PART 4(a)....GETTING TO WORK IN THE MORNING

How we roll XD

Angels exist in each of the people that ‘saved’ me from a tro-tro ride back home when I had but a few pesewas to my name. Demons abound in any number of the fools that stoked my ire in the past couple of months. We live in a world of Angels and Demons and we can be mere tools to their ends, or we can take charge of our destiny and direct our own paths. You can exist for others or you can play the game on your own terms; I choose to play on my own terms no matter how uncomfortable it may be. What if the Tro-Tro is the mainstay of my transportation for a few more years? I found my niche; they are certainly uncomfortable, crowded and looked down upon, but they are a cheap and fairly efficient system of travel once you get the hang of it. I can even manage sleeping in the ricketiest of the rickety Tro-Tro buses for hours amidst the sights and sounds of Accra’s insane traffic jams. I travel proper Ghana style! I know how to get to work and back on a mere 3 cedis and still have change for Hausa Koko, Bofrot, PK and ‘Pure Water’ (PS: Inflation has caught up to even these items oh, imagine that at 37 you cannot purchase hausa koko for less than 30p anymore......HOW??).

Loading Tro-tro at the Station, the bus-stops are the "express service centres"

I used to complain bitterly about having to go through these things until I realized that it is not a punishment for crimes committed, but rather the best opportunity I have to learn how to be disciplined, focused and to appreciate the true plight of the average Ghanaian. A lot of people talk a lot of nonsense about how they want to help the people of Ghana and whatnot, but do they even know the naked suffering of the average Ghanaian; the ridiculously long wait in bus stations; the dangerous state of the rundown machines that transport them up and down and the unhygienic conditions that surround what they eat and drink. Tro-tros are the mainstay of Ghana’s public transportation system, moving people and goods across the length and breadth of the country and yet it is largely unregulated and attracts little investment - I see several huge businesses brewing in the need to improve the public transport system. Generally speaking though it is a very orderly affair, but when the pressure is on and demand is high, it all disintegrates into a very interesting scenario.

Early Morning Tro-Tro Olympics

A typical scene I encounter nearly every morning on my way to work goes like this......

            Spanner Junction [6:07am]...... A docile gathering of plenty black faces are waiting patiently at the bus-stop. Friends are talking, families are smiling, mobile phones are ringing and the sun is fairly bright in the sky but the temperature is still cool. The few tro-tros that pass by are full and speed into and out of the bus stop merely to cut a few cars in the serious morning rush hour. And there is always the one desperate guy running behind it, waving his hands in the hopes that the tro-tro will stop for him, unfortunately it stops somewhere ahead, and he slinks back to the far end of the station, awaiting impatiently for the Tro-Tro that will park right in front of him. Most of the cars on the road are private and the docile crowd glances expectantly towards the snakey traffic in the hopes of obtaining a ‘lift’. The crowd keeps increasing as the morning progresses and as yet no empty tro-tro has come by.

            Spanner Junction [6:31am]......The crowd is now a great mass of many more black faces and they are all sweating profusely. The heat is becoming unbearable so in tandem with the mobile phones, handkerchiefs are constantly at work. Unsurprisingly you may see a white face or two, but they are always dropping of from the tro-tro and not trying to get on it. The reason is simple, the dynamics of the bus stop are very different from before. Whenever a tro-tro breaks away from the snaky traffic and enters the other end of the bus stop (which is rather long by the way), immediately the phones and handkerchiefs vanish and so do the smiles and sighs. Eyes become fixated at the shrilling mass of rusted metal, gauging its contents and velocity. If it begins to slow down and appears to be offloading passengers, people immediately move into action. Inevitably some people had already begun running behind the tro-tro even before it slowed down (including our dear desperate friend), but the driver, through some mechanism known only to him determines where on this 20 meter stretch to screech to a stop. The driver’s mate slides open the door and calmly steps out of the way......he does not want to be in the fray of what is about to happen.

            Spanner Junction [6:32am]......A heaving mass of men and women, young and old are all struggling and shoving each other out of the way to enter into the tro-tro. They have now blocked the passenger who wants to step down, and he has to wait as the crowd reluctantly makes way for him. As he is getting off, people are still trying to get in. Now there 23 people in a Kung Fu Tussle in front of a 1-yard sliding door that can only allow one person to enter at a time. People are pushing, shoving, pulling, head-butting, eye-gouging, hair-pulling, stepping all over each other, hurling insults into the air and generally using any and all means to get into that last remaining precious seat. The moment somebody succeeds in putting three-fifths of their body into the tro-tro, the driver’s mate screams that the bus is full, shoves his way towards his own seat, and kicks out the dude sitting there and pleading to be taken along - who knew this was going to happen anyway. As he closes the door the seething crowd becomes docile again, but only for a moment. As the tro-tro speeds off to rudely join the snaky traffic, another breaks off and enters the bus stop, loudly and followed by a thick trail of black smoke, the desperate gentleman is running behind it and waving his hands but its too late and the cycle begins again......

NB: The Tro-Tro ride from Spanner Junction (Tetteh Quarshie) to the 37 Bus Station costs 25p – A taxi ride costs 5 cedis.

In the belly of the Beast :)

At first I used to laugh so hard at this scene. There is so much mirth to be obtained from watching grown men and women act like a bunch of sophomoric monkeys. And you know another thing, it is absolutely worse when the bus is completely empty, imagine that! The way the African mind works is just baffling, but sadly even I am part of this comedy scene since I realized that I either had to play the game or get to work very late. So as the mass heaves and shoves, I tighten the straps on my backpack, loosen my tie, take of my spectacles and jump into the mix. An effective strategy I observed is to grab onto the door with one hand, and use the other to shove, block and push. Stepping on toes is particularly effective, especially if you are wearing Santiagos with hard soles; very very effective indeed. I have seen a woman with her kid wrapped behind her trip, fall and get trampled slightly. Another time just as somebody was about to put more than half his body through the door, a hand slithered by and pulled him back into the fray and I slipped by him into the bus. Honestly it wasn’t me, but that helped me a lot man. People even improvise tools and weapons to improve their odds of getting through the throng. Backpacks and head loads are held in front and used as rams to shove people away from the gate. I have seen a heavy-set woman with a huge head load balanced on her head, running, no, sprinting after a tro-tro - and you know what, she made it inside somehow, load intact.

There are even team strategies, if there are several seats on the bus, the strongest of a group of friends will secure the gate with both hands blocking everybody else and let his fellows wiggle into the bus ahead of him before entering himself. Most times passengers tend to take this as a matter of course, but sometimes people get into serious fights that everybody tries to break up - until the next tro-tro appears. I generally avoid these pitfalls by ensuring that I take a tro-tro that bypasses Spanner Junction completely, but if I do end up there, I observe, I laugh a bit, and then I jump into the fray like a Bruce Lee wannabe, Jeet Kun Do-ing my way into the bus; backpack facing forwards and hard soles clogging along and ready to strike – hia hia hiaaaaaaaa. I have to get to work people......Sek Sek Sek Sek, Teri Sev Teri Sev Teri Sev.....hehehehe

Generally boarding a Tro-Tro is a civil affair, but when the pressure is on, PUSH COMES TO SHOVE!

A Big round of CHEERS to everybody that reads this blog. Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.

From TheBizmic & Co.